Different Feedback Strategies to Meet Individual Teachers' Needs

            In The Learning Professional, author/leadership coach Keith Young and district director of student services Judith Mendoza Jimenez suggest three levels of feedback based on teachers’ needs and levels of experience: rapid response, moderate engagement, and expansive intervention. 

• Rapid response – Many classroom issues can be addressed quickly, say Young and Jimenez, “without the need for extended sit-down feedback sessions.” For example, during a classroom visit, an observer might prompt the teacher to check for understanding or focus on disengaged students by whispering to the teacher, handing them a note, or sending a text. “I didn’t have to wait until the end of the day to learn what the students needed,” said a teacher who appreciated the quick feedback. [Here’s a detailed discussion of real-time coaching.] 

            Another approach is having a brief feedback chat in the corridor immediately after an observation. An elementary principal found these informal conversations built rapport and helped teachers make minor instructional tweaks. Similarly, a district administrator observing a school’s faculty meeting pulled the principal aside and unobtrusively suggested a way to get input from reluctant colleagues. 

• Moderate engagement – “Some feedback needs more than a quick chat,” say Young and Jimenez, “structured enough to get into detail, yet flexible enough to fit into a busy school day.” Novice teachers might be asked to co-teach a lesson with a seasoned colleague, actively engaging with a new teaching idea without having to take full responsibility for the lesson, then debriefing afterward. Administrators might also orchestrate peer observation cycles to get teachers into each other’s classrooms and spread effective practices. 

            “It was powerful to see my colleague handle the same challenges I face – and to learn from their solutions,” said one teacher. “I also realized I need to plan my complex thinking questions in advance because improvising them during the lesson rarely worked for me.” 

            Another moderate engagement strategy is teachers recording videos of lessons and reviewing them afterward with an instructional coach. This is like athletic teams looking at game videos, say Young and Jimenez, “allowing educators to see missed opportunities, analyze strategies, and plan for improvement.” 

            For very proficient teachers who seldom need corrective feedback, the best approach might be to have them coach themselves based on rubrics, classroom videos, or an analysis of their students’ work. One experienced art teacher reviewed her students’ portfolios at the end of a semester and made a number of changes in pedagogy, lesson pacing, and scaffolding. 

• Expansive intervention – Longer, more in-depth coaching can help teachers develop new practices, improve student engagement, perhaps confront biases. An Arizona science department head engaged in a semester-long, twice-a-week coaching cycle with a novice teacher to plan lessons, observe classroom dynamics (especially student-led labs), and debrief after each classroom visit. “It wasn’t just about tweaking a lesson here or there,” said the teacher. “It was like a deep dive into everything – how I pressed my students, how I understood the standards, how I communicated during the lab, even how I handled their mistakes. I went from feeling overwhelmed to watching my students own their learning.” 

            Another idea is “ramble chats” – extended walk-and-talk conversations in which an instructional coach and an effective teacher talk informally about curriculum, pedagogy, and student learning – without the constraints of a formal agenda. “This type of feedback,” say Young and Jimenez, “proves well-suited to teachers who are either highly experienced or highly self-reflective or, ideally, both. The open-ended and time-consuming nature of these conversations fosters deep reflection and creative problem solving.” 

            The goal of this kind of differentiated support, conclude Young and Jimenez: “a professional learning culture where every individual feels seen, supported, and inspired to make changes – from quick adjustments to deep transformations. That kind of continuous improvement is possible when we reimagine feedback as not just a tool for addressing deficiencies, but as a catalyst for growth, innovation, and empowerment.”  

“3 Essential Feedback Categories for Inspiring Educator Growth” by Keith Young and Judith Mendoza Jimenez in The Learning Professional, February 2025 (Vol. 46, #1, pp. 34-37)

Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #1079 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.